The Law and Sin

What is Sin?

Romans 3:20

Oct 14/27 2009 21st Tuesday after
Pentecost

Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of
sin.Rom 3:20
KJV

It cannot be that perfectly doing the works of the law is
of no benefit, since Christ “fulfilled the law[1]”,
and in so doing did all the works of the law, not transgressing even once. This
must mean that no man CAN do all the deeds of the law. The law, our
“schoolmaster[2]”
was not created to make us righteous, but rather, to show us how unrighteous we
are. The law gives us “the knowledge of
sin”.

So what is sin? This is the age old question, which is
answered badly by Jews, Gentiles and Christians alike. Most answer this
description by referring to deeds done or not done which violate God’s
commands. This is true, but the Christian has (should have) a more perfect
understanding of sin; it is what transpires because of our human condition,
which can only be changed by faith in Christ.

People have a difficult relationship with the law. The
law, which is still in effect, albeit in a different way than in OT times,
tells us not to do many things. Some of these things may confuse us, especially
in our immoral and lax days, when all manner of sexual conduct has been
redefined to be “ok” in the eyes of God, and when we see
lawbreakers apparently[3]
living calm and happy lives. Breaking the law, that is, sin, leads to
death[4],
but this death is not readily seen.

It is a tough sell to tell a young person (or an old one
who has never learned self-control and gained wisdom in years) to refrain from
pleasure, especially when it is not immediately apparent that anyone is being
harmed. Murder, theft, adultery – we can understand why these things are
sins – they directly harm another person. We have more trouble
understanding why a consensual sexual relationship, or even our un-acted upon
thoughts (such as lust, jealously, anger) or “private” sins (such
as laziness or lack of prayer, are sinful. This is because we do not
understand sin. If one does not understand sin, one does not understand the
law.

In OT times, the law defined sin and righteousness, with
little explanation. There were glimmers of explanation in various places, but
for the most part, it defined “don’t do this, don’t do
that”. The Jew had a poor conception of sin; for him it caused the
wrath of God to fall upon him because of something He did or did not do, which
was commanded in the law and animal sacrifice and the shedding of blood was
necessary to remove this judgment from him.

For the NT man, the law has been further defined and
elucidated by Jesus Christ, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. With the
elucidation of the law, from the example and words of Jesus Christ, sin also
has become more defined.

For the Christian, sin is imperfection, incompleteness,
sickness, disease.

The law actually tells us the actions that come about as a
result of this disease. Most diseases of the body are invisible or not readily
apparent until substantial degradation of the body has already occurred
(examples are cancer, diabetes, heart disease, which may be present for a long
time before manifesting serious and even deadly symptoms). A sick man cannot
know what makes him sick without an expert physician treating him and teaching
him. We cannot know what makes us sick without the law schooling us.

The OT law tells us to not steal, commit murder, covet,
commit adultery, etc. These sins cause us to be separate from God and unable to
withstand His majesty, whether we know this connection or not. The OT law
merely tells us things commanded to do or not to do, but does not explain the
deeper meaning of these commandments.

The NT explanation of the law further shows us a deeper
meaning of these elementary prohibitions. For example, we are told in the OT
law to not commit adultery, and our Lord explains the complete meaning of this
prohibition by informing us that if we look upon a woman to lust after her, we
have already committed adultery with her in our heart[5].
Our thoughts matter. They debilitate us as much as our actions.

St Paul explains that the law taught us the knowledge of
sin. All the law does, whether in its OT form, of according to the refined
teaching of the Savior, is inform us of the things which debilitate us and make
us sick. Having this knowledge is a great advantage, to the Jew[6]
or the Christian, but only the Christian can know how to fulfill the law, by
understanding his nature, which leads to sin, and how Christ has renewed his
nature, making new creature, able (with effort) to fulfill the law.

What then? Are we better than they?
No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are
all under sin;(Rom 3:9)

“under” = “hypo” = “subject
to”, “under the power of”

Sin is not only something you do, it is something
you are! It is weakness, a predilection to ungodly and useless
things. It is slavery.

We need to get it out of our heads that sin is
some-”thing” that is wrong – we are wrong, and we need
to get right! This understanding of sin is mostly a NT one; as we have
said, the Jews had a poor understanding of sin.

This is why it is very powerful to FORCE ourselves to do
good.

Do you have trouble fasting? Good! Fast (even if you do it
poorly – being “bad” at something holy is not an excuse to
not do it at all!), and you will gain power over sin.

Do your eyes start to wander when you see something
sexually tempting? Good! (but only if you struggle to avert your eyes).

Anytime we deny ourselves, even if imperfectly, we are
living in the NT reality that Jesus Christ frees us from sin. We will be made
“more than conquerors” if we struggle against sin. This is not a
struggle to not do something that is against the law, but rather a struggle to
become something, “free indeed”[7]
and no longer subject to corruption and death (the wages of sin is death), that
is righteous.

With the law we have the knowledge of sin, and Jesus
Christ teaches us how to NOT sin, by becoming so strong in our will that we are
capable of resisting all sin.

Do you understand that because of your weak human
nature you are under the power of sin, and that this is the great tragedy of
the human condition?And also, that the only way to overcome the power
of sin is to struggle against it, making progress by God’s grace?

Test yourself.

The next time you confess, do not rattle off a bunch of
stuff you did or did not do: “I broke the fast two times, I missed my
morning prayers, I did not come to church because I was lazy, I become angry, I
cursed”, etc.

You sin because you are still a weak person, under the
power of sin. Lamentthe kind of person you are, and not just
the things you do, because the person you are leads to the things you do or
cannot do.

Use this for any edifying
reason, but please give credit, and include the URL of the article. This
content belongs to the author. We would love to hear from you with comments!
(seraphim@orthodox.net)

[1]
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

[2]
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

[3]
One of my favorite sayings is “Things are never as they
seem”. It would be good to remember this when we are tempted to
be envious of a person who in some way seems to be better or more fortunate
than us, as well as when we are tempted to judge someone as worse than
us.

[4]
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[5]
Mat 5:28 :But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.“

[6]
Rom 3:1-2 KJV “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit
is there of circumcision? (2) Much every way: chiefly, because
that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”

[7]John
8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed.